Waiting, waiting, nervously waiting

There are less that 2 hours to go before my recital. I'm trying not to let my anxiety rise too high! I will concentrate on supper and getting ready...

The reason for dress rehearsals

Cathy, Kim and Christine came over last night to listen to my recital piece and a couple of other things. In return, I gave them mango margueritas and tortilla chips with guacamole. I have been playing my recital piece every day from memory for weeks and weeks; last night I forgot the opening chord! Hurray for dress rehearsals! Now I know that before playing on the 29th, I need to remind myself that the opening chord is the 1st inversion of C# minor. Once I had that chord, I did pretty well. The things that I didn't do well were not things that most audience members would notice.

March Break for adults

No lesson this week because it is March Break. I wish I had March Break at work as well as at piano lessons! I hope Peter is enjoying his week off. I'm in procrastination mode at the moment because I know I don't have a lesson until next week (will have to figure out the Good Friday thing though, hmm, don't think I'll have a lesson that day!). At least I am practicing my recital piece because Kim, Cathy and Christine are coming on Saturday. I'm also re-learning a couple of other pieces to play for them.

The new issue of Keyboard Companion is out, so hopefully I will soon receive my first issue in the mail. There are some interesting articles available in the online edition (but more in the print). Clare might like the editorial on tool kits for students.

Practice psychology

I'm having a pretty good practice week. Perhaps due to goal-setting but more likely due to the order of pieces. I now make sure that my newer pieces and my tricky pieces are practiced first and then I work on the things that need polishing, like the recital piece. If I leave the difficult stuff until the end (when I'm "warmed up"), I will find reasons not to play them (too tired, ran out of time, leave for another time when I can concentrate better, etc.). Tonight I'm going shopping with Heather and it is always tricky to get back into "doing stuff" mode after being in the stores. So, while I'm waiting for her phone call I will do a partial practice and then it won't seem so daunting later in the evening when I return.

Recital denied

No recital today. Peter phoned to say it has been cancelled because there aren't enough people. So, no test-drive for me! I guess I should set my goals for the week:

1. fine-tune Chopin; I still have some trouble-spots
2. memorize that darn Norton piece which is giving me endless grief
3. continue to work on p. 2 and p. 4 of Bach
4. get back to the Chopin étude, which I have neglected for the last 2 weeks

Recital ready?

Peter says that my Chopin is "recital ready". I still have spots where I play wrong notes. I know what the notes should be and think "hey, that was wrong" as the moment goes by. Peter says that these are not memorization problems but "panic spots". Maybe if I go over those spots I'll get more comfortable and my mind won't panic as I approach them. There are only 5 students trying out pieces at tomorrow's monthly recital. I guess Kiwanis and exams are too far away! I am the only advanced student; I should sound good by default! :-)